Teachers suspended after sharing racist posts in front of Kurdish road sign

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Muhlis Çiçek, the Director of National Education in Karayazı, has announced that four teachers were suspended over the racist statements they made toward Kurdish words on a signboard in Turkey's Kurdish-majority district of Karayazı in Erzurum province.

Çiçek, on his social media account, said, "Judicial and administrative action has been initiated against the teachers due to the social media posts they shared in front of the signboard of the district's entrance. They have been suspended until the end of the investigation."

CLICK-Investigation against teachers over racist post

What happened?

A group of teachers working at the Karşıyaka Primary School in Erzurum's Karayazı in eastern Turkey posed for the camera in front of a road sign which reads "Welcome" in Turkish and Kurdish.

Standing in front of the sign "Hûn bî xer hatin-Hoş geldiniz", the teachers referred to the Kurdish part by saying, "It is written 'Welcome' in the other part of the sign as well, but our reaction to that is obvious'."

Then, they made rude gestures in front of the sign. Afterwards, they posted this picture containing racist hate speech on social media.

The related social media post has caused an outrage on social media.

While the District Directorate of National Education has launched an administrative investigation against the teachers over the post, the prosecutor's office has also launched a legal investigation.

The Linguistic and Cultural Rights Commission of the Mardin Bar Association has also defined the act as discrimination and hate crime and announced that they will file a criminal complaint against the teachers on charges of "inciting the public to enmity and hatred" and "hate crime". (RT/TB/VK)